"This is just too much!" Tony Stark couldn't help but exclaim. "The way it accentuates your glutes."
"But I think it looks great, Captain!" Ant-Man Scott chimed in. "That's the classic American peach, Captain. If you went into show business, you'd drive women wild! I've got the perfect name for you: Peach King!"
"Enough, you two!" Captain Rogers said, utterly exasperated.
*What kind of timing is this? How can they still be joking around?*
Moments later, the Endgame Avengers spotted agents approaching, still operating under the guise of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"Who are these guys?" Ant-Man Scott asked.
"They're S.H.I.E.L.D. No, actually, they're Hydra, but we don't know that yet!" Tony Stark replied.
"What? Hydra? You don't know? How is that possible? They practically scream 'villain'!" Ant-Man Scott was bewildered. *These guys are practically wearing their evil intentions on their sleeves! How could you not know?*
"You're not much to look at, but you sure talk a lot!" Endgame Iron Man Tony Stark grumbled.
This Ant-Man really was full of hot air.
"Captain, hand over the Scepter and the Cosmic Cube!" Crossbones demanded of Captain Rogers.
"Absolutely not!" Captain Rogers immediately refused.
How could he fall for this trick again? This time, he wouldn't be caught off guard.
"Why not?" Crossbones pressed. "We're acting on direct orders from above!"
Crossbones hadn't expected to be refused. He was here as a representative of S.H.I.E.L.D. How dare Captain Rogers defy him?
"What 'above'?" Steve Rogers retorted. "I haven't received any orders from Nick Fury. He's the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. I won't hand over the items without his command."
He then glanced at Tony Stark, his meaning clear. *Didn't you just send Nick Fury to lead those Hydra squads on a suicide mission? How are there still stragglers?*
Faced with Captain Rogers' gaze, Tony Stark shrugged. What could he do? Since they couldn't openly eliminate all the Hydra cells, it was only reasonable that some would slip through the cracks.
There were thousands of Hydra-affiliated special operations teams within S.H.I.E.L.D. With so many members, it was only logical that some would escape.
Besides, these Hydra agents weren't fools. Seeing how Tony and the others were treating them, they would naturally flee.
In the end, there would always be many who escaped.
However, many things couldn't be said openly in front of the Hydra members, or their cover would be blown.
The situation had suddenly frozen, especially for the Hydra members. They had never expected Tony Stark and the others to refuse to hand over the Mind Stone Scepter. After all, they had never imagined that Captain Rogers, who had always been so obedient, would completely disagree.
"Captain, your stance is making this difficult for us. We're here to take the scepter on the orders of Secretary-General Alexander Pierce!" Crossbones said, frowning. "This is a direct command from higher up!"
They tried to persuade Captain Rogers, but they didn't have the guts to make a move against him and the Avengers. That would be suicide.
*What a joke!* The Avengers were a bunch of freaks. Never mind Hulk, Thor, or even Captain Rogers—they couldn't handle any of them.
If it came to a fight, they'd be wiped out.
"Secretary-General? I thought the highest leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. was the Director. I've never heard of a Secretary-General," Black Widow Natasha said calmly.
By the rules, the Director was the highest leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. The Secretary-General position existed primarily to facilitate communication between the Five Permanent Members and S.H.I.E.L.D. As such, the Secretary-General had no real power within S.H.I.E.L.D.—at least not in terms of official authority—and couldn't directly command the Avengers.
It was a position that might be given some respect if they felt like it, but if they didn't, what was the Secretary-General worth?
In the original Sacred Timeline, the Avengers didn't know they were Hydra, which is why they handed over the Mind Stone Scepter to them. That wouldn't happen now, of course.
"Our Secretary-General reports directly to the United Council, which is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s direct superior. You must obey the Council's orders!" Crossbones snarled, his voice low and desperate. "You aren't new to being S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. You can't possibly not know this!"
"I don't know, and I'm sorry, but I'm not a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent," Tony Stark said with a cold sneer. "If the Council wants to cause trouble, let them issue their own orders. A Secretary-General doesn't have the authority to interfere in our affairs!"
He loathed these Hydra scum with a burning intensity, their parents' murders an unforgivable debt.
Tony Stark wanted to blast them all into oblivion right then and there, but he knew better. "A moment's impatience can ruin a grand plan," he reminded himself.
He still understood that much.
"Besides, this is our spoils of war. It has nothing to do with the Council. Move aside and don't delay us!" Black Widow Natasha added flatly.
Crossbones and his men were dumbfounded. *This... this is completely unimaginable. Is this still the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s subordinate organization?*
He remembered when the Avengers hadn't been so defiant. How had they become like this?
After speaking, the Avengers, carrying both the Cosmic Cube and the Mind Stone Scepter, descended without showing the Hydra agents any courtesy.
They remained vigilant, ready to fight if the agents tried to cause trouble. After all, if anything went wrong, Nick Fury would be responsible. As the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he had his own contacts on the United Council and powerful backers.
Moreover, the position of Secretary-General was designed to prevent direct interference in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal affairs. Otherwise, why even have such a position? Why not just let Fury continue as Director?
Crossbones was stunned by this. After the Avengers left, he immediately contacted Alexander Pierce. "Secretary-General, the Avengers are refusing to hand over the Scepter. We have no legal grounds to force them. The only way to get it now is if you intervene personally!"
"Damn it!" Alexander Pierce roared in fury. "That damned Avengers... that damned Nick Fury!"
He couldn't understand when Nick Fury had become so disobedient.
"Find a way to slow them down!" Alexander Pierce barked, slamming down the phone and rushing toward Stark Tower.
But it wasn't just Hydra that was stunned; the Endgame Avengers were equally dumbfounded. Their plan had been to trick Hydra out of the Mind Stone Scepter. Now what?
With both the Cosmic Cube and the Mind Stone Scepter in the Avengers' hands, what were they supposed to do?
"What do we do, Tony? What do we do now?" Ant-Man Scott asked anxiously.
"I don't know either. For now, we'll just have to see how things play out," Tony Stark said after a moment's thought. They'd have to come up with another plan.
Once he confirmed the Avengers had taken the elevator down, he quickly followed suit, preparing to change clothes. He immediately contacted Captain Rogers, saying, "Captain, we've got a problem. This is completely different from what we discussed. The Tony Stark of this timeline didn't hand over the Mind Stone Scepter and the Cosmic Cube to Hydra. The plan has changed."
"How could that happen?" Captain Rogers asked.
"How should I know? This timeline is just too weird!" Tony Stark was at his wit's end. This reality felt utterly bizarre, radiating an unsettling aura, completely unlike anything he knew.
*What on earth happened in this world?*
Frustrated and helpless, with no other recourse, he changed into a pre-prepared special forces uniform and blended into the crowd, ready to act at a moment's notice.
However, he soon noticed an opportunity.
A group of people intercepted the Avengers, led by Alexander Pierce.
"Excuse me, please stop. I'd like to ask where you're heading," Alexander Pierce said.
"To lunch, then back to Asgard. And who are you?" Thor asked, feigning ignorance.
He already knew, thanks to Nick Fury's deduction, that the biggest Hydra leader within S.H.I.E.L.D. was none other than Alexander Pierce. Of course he knew, but he was just pretending not to.
"Alexander Pierce. He's Nick Fury's boss!" Tony Stark introduced, putting on a show just like Thor.
"Just call me Secretary-General," Alexander Pierce said. "But that prisoner is mine to handle."
This alien invasion had been a devastating blow to him. The overall human losses were negligible, as the battlefield had been contained to a small area.
But Hydra's losses were catastrophic, so severe they made his liver ache.
And the culprit behind it all was Loki, the trickster god of myth and legend.
Perfect. Taking him back for scientific research was ideal. Not only would he hold Loki accountable for the losses, but he also wanted to study what kind of creatures these gods truly were.
If he could uncover the secret to their immortality, that would be truly remarkable.
After all, he was getting old. Even with regular longevity treatments, his lifespan was still limited.
Living past a hundred would be considered quite an achievement.
-----------------------
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